Chapter 30
Elodie’s POV~
Half a month. That’s all it had been since I walked out of the villa for the last time. Half a month, and already the quietness was beginning to feel like my only friend. No shouting, no cold silences, no reminders of a life that had slowly hollowed me out. Just me, my little apartment, and the sunlight spilling in through the windows.
I stretched, feeling the warmth on my skin, and let out a long, shivering breath. My plants needed water, my stomach a simple breakfast. For a moment, I let myself pretend life could be simple. Just for a little while.
And then the doorbell rang.
I froze, my heart lurching in a way I hadn’t felt in years. I wasn’t expecting anyone. Slowly, I padded to the door and opened it to see Mrs. Smith, smiling warmly, holding a basket of food.
“Freya… I hope I didn’t disturb you p>
I blinked at her, then shook my head. “Not at all. I was just up p>
Her smile softened. “Good. We brought some pies and pasta… freshly made. Just a little thank-you. For saving Tommy the other day. If you hadn’t saved my little boy from that rogue… I can’t imagine what could have happened p>
I swallowed, feeling a twinge of guilt on recalling how badly Tommy had been hurt before I found him, fighting off the rogue before help came and the rogue was killed. “It… it’s really nothing. You’re too kind p>
She hesitated, fiddling with the basket. “We wanted to thank you properly, but… work, life… we never found the time. We feel so embarrassed p>
I nodded, my smile polite but thin. After a few more words, she left, leaving me alone and the stillness and a creeping hollow in my chest I couldn’t shake.
I sat down for breakfast, tried to focus on the AI system I’d been studying, but my hands trembled when a notification popped up on my phone. T University’s centennial celebration.
I froze. The day I had long imagined would be full of possibilities, achievement, recognition… a hundred years of history, and I had walked away from it all.
Scrolling through the coverage, I saw faces I hadn’t seen in years. Faces I had once wanted to impress, to learn from, to be remembered by. My chest tightened, my hands shook. A thousand “what ifs” flooded my mind.
If I hadn’t married Dante right after graduation… if I had chosen differently… maybe I could have been there. Maybe I would have been celebrated. Maybe someone would have seen me, not just as a wife or a mother, but as Elodie, the woman I used to dream of becoming.
The thought hit me like ice. I closed the laptop, gripping the edge of the table until my knuckles whitened. I needed… air. Clarity. I had to see the campus, even if it was too late. Even if it hurts.
By the time I arrived at school after some hours, afternoon had fallen. Most VIPs were gone, but students and staff still moved through the grounds. I wandered without purpose, letting memories guide me, I felt every corner, every building tugging at a heart and that felt like my heart had been carved out and left empty.
Before I could take some steps forward, I heard someone call for me.
“Freya p>
The voice made me stop dead. My pulse raced.
“Freya?” The voice called again, and I slowly turned. My breath hitched.
The teahouse I was in, smelled faintly of jasmine and old wood, but it did nothing to soothe the storm inside me. My fingers wrapped around the teacup Johnny poured, trying to anchor myself, though the warmth didn’t reach the part of me that felt hollow.
“How have you been lately?” Johnny’s voice was soft, but there was that familiar earnestness I remembered from our days at the Pack’s academy. Like he wasn’t just asking, he actually wanted to know.
I looked down, letting my eyes drift over the rim of the cup, pretending the steam could blur my thoughts. “I… I’m… preparing for divorce,” I said, my voice small.
He froze. I could see it in his eyes, the hesitation, the silent question of whether he should say something, or just sit there and let me collapse.
“I’m… sorry,” he finally said.
I shook my head. “It’s fine.” Lies taste bitter. The truth is, it wasn’t fine. Not when I thought about the years I had given up, the daughter I barely saw, the life I’d paused for Dante and the Bellini Pack. Not when I realized that even now, standing in this teahouse, I felt like a shadow of who I used to be.
“What are your plans now?” he asked, leaning forward a little, earnest, sincere. “Would you consider coming back to the company p>
I wanted to tell him everything, how technology had evolved while I’d been gone, how seven years away had left me feeling incompetent, left me unsure of whether I could even keep pace. But the words got stuck. They always did.
“I’ve thought about it… but My voice faltered.
Johnny didn’t press, didn’t pry. He just watched me with that steady, patient look he always had. “Elodie… the company needs you. You’re still a shareholder. I hope… I hope you’ll come back, take charge again p>
I wanted to tell him I couldn’t. That even if I returned, I’d be a pale version of myself. That every day away from this life had chipped pieces off me I wasn’t sure I could rebuild. But I didn’t. I only swallowed hard, staring at the tea, swirling it around, as if stirring it could make everything easier.
“You don’t have to have it all figured out,” he said quietly. “It’s okay to fall behind. Your ability… your talent… it isn’t something ordinary. As long as you still want this, it’s not too late to start again p>
I blinked, fighting the lump rising in my throat. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to think I wasn’t too far gone. But the past six years pressed against me like a weight I couldn’t lift, the missed opportunities, the nights I spent alone while Dante ran the Pack’s empire, the daughter I longed to hold but only saw in brief, stolen moments.
“I… I I shook my head, a bitter laughter spilling out. “I was never like this before. Back then… I could do anything. Now My hands trembled slightly, and I dropped my gaze to the teacup.
Johnny reached out, lightly touching my hand. Not to push, not to judge, but just to remind me I wasn’t completely alone. “Don’t forget,” he said softly, “you were the professor’s most brilliant student. The one he bragged about the most p>
I laughed, a humorless, hollow sound. “If he heard that now, he’d probably snort and say he was forced to pick the tallest among dwarfs p>
The words should have lightened the air, but instead they hung so heavy, reminding me of everything I’d lost. My mind drifted to Dante, to Liora, to the life I had paused. To the life I might never get back. And through it all, the ache in my chest refused to fade.
I sipped the tea, the warmth doing nothing to reach the cold inside me. Outside, the campus hummed with life, the world I had once belonged to. And now it felt just out of reach, a reminder that time had moved on without me, leaving me behind in silence, in regret, in heartbreak.
I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell Johnny that it wasn’t just about AI or the company, it was about the pieces of me scattered across years I could never reclaim. But instead, I sat there, holding the cup, letting the quietness settle around us, and mourning the girl I used to be.